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After the authorities claimed that two affluent Chinese nationals were involved in giving money to British politicians on behalf of the Chinese Communist party, they were denied entry to the UK. The bans were issued to the married pair, who both had legal status in the UK, last year, but information about their exclusion has only recently come to light in a lawsuit before a secret immigration tribunal. The Home Office wrote to the individuals in March 2022 to advise them that the exclusion had been personally ordered by the home secretary at the time, Priti Patel, according to a recent judgement in the case. Officials informed the couple that their expulsion was "as a result of your involvement in making financial donations to UK political figures on behalf of the Chinese Communist party (CCP)," according to letters delivered to them. We consequently believe that your presence in the UK is detrimental to the general welfare.
The Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac), a specialized body that hears appeals by people removed from the UK or barred from entering on national security grounds, used excerpts from the letters in its decision. The judgement makes no mention of specifics regarding the couple's alleged participation in UK politics or which politicians received funds associated with them. But according to the ruling, they were clients of a legal office managed by Christine Lee, a solicitor who MI5 accused last year of working as a Chinese agent in a clandestine effort to sway UK lawmakers. The court found that Christine Lee & Co solicitors handled the applicants' immigration petitions; one of them was granted a tier 1 investment visa in 2012 and subsequently got indefinite leave to remain in the UK. The couple frequently visited the UK and had property there, but they cannot be recognized since Siac ordered their anonymity. When the exclusion notices were published, they were both abroad. The people, known by the commission as C17 and C18, received an extension to the deadline for filing an appeals against their exclusion as a result of Siac's decision.
The decision to deny them admission to the UK was taken in accordance with a law that permits the government to bar someone from entering based on information it contends should not be made public, usually for concerns of national security. Two months after MI5 issued a rare security alert warning MPs of clandestine "political interference activities" in parliament on behalf of the CCP, the country's ruling political party, the Home Office issued the exclusion notifications. Lee, a well-known figure in Westminster, was charged by MI5 with "facilitating financial donations to serving and aspiring parliamentarians on behalf of foreign nationals based in Hong Kong and China," according to the notice. When confronted with the accusations, China's foreign ministry insisted that there was "no factual basis" for them. The advisory was criticized by its embassy in London, which referred to it as "smearing and intimidation against the Chinese community in the UK." The government's accusations against the two Chinese nationals who were prevented from entering the country and the MI5 security alert were not connected in any way, according to Siac's most recent judgement. Lee and the law firm she created have been contacted by The Guardian for comment. The Home Office chose not to respond. Source: The Guardian
